Nestalgic and into vinyl seeks partner in crime...

This has been a day of mad blogs! I think Portland inspired me to write again, which I will cherish and appreciate.

We finally got the record player hooked up...after 2 months of talking about it. I forgot how much I love vinyl. It reminds me of my dad...the good parts of my dad. I'm listening to Hall and Oats right now. The record is crackly a little, just like it did when I was a kid, sitting on my daddy's lap, watching him close his eyes and bob his head to the beat. His beard, practically black, which he donned for as long as I can remember, was always the perfect edition to his green eyes and long eyelashes. I can see now why my mother fell so madly in love with him. Sometimes I forget they're no together anymore...but that's for another day.

I inherited quite a collection from him if I don't say so myself. Original edition Beatles albums, the entire works of the Moody Blues, Paul Simon, Neil Young (own it people, he's brilliant), Simon and Garfunkel, The Allman Brothers, Pink Floyd, The Doors, The Stones, Zepplin, Elton John, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, America, The Who, Frank Zappa, John Lennon, Paul McCartney (the orgininators of side projects and solo careers), Bruce Springstein. My dad had a thing for aging guitar players. Seriously though, they're so classic they'll never go out of style.

Sitting here on my bedroom floor, surrounded by the last 20 years of his record collection, I'm missing him more than ever.

Earth, this is your brain calling

Coming back to earth is awful when you were previously floating. My head won't stop spinning and I'm not sure WHAT to do with myself.

Lord you are at work. I do not see it, but you are here...right now. I WILL be satisfied in your presence, in your likeness, and in your will. I WILL pray with authority, love with compassion, and speak with grace and truth.

"O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE,
my lips WILL glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you."
-Psalm 63:2-5

You have romanced me.

You have romanced me Portland, more than any other city I've ever visited. Your mountain scapes and beautiful bridges have captured my heart and made it very hard to leave you. I want to hold hands and sip a latte whilst walking through your tree lighted streets, donning my yellow scarf and bike friendly tennis shoes. You are the essence of romance. Each turn of a corner conjures a new sensory experience. Green. Blue. Pumpkin spice. Crisp air. Cool nights. Gentle rain. You are like entering the room with your boyfriend, him leading by the gentlest of touch to the small of the back-safe and dangerous-the dicotomy of letting go, yet feeling safe.

You, Portland, are almost too good to be true. Your romance is welcomed, but not fully believed. I question how good you seem to be. I'm holding my breathe for what will, inevitably, come up. The things I'm unaware of. Those things that take the shine out of the romance.

Regardless...you are my new muse. I want to know you fully; to walk through your streets, drink your coffee, and be with your people.